Thursday Must Read: Father of 1-Year-Old Victim Won’t Talk to Cops; Berkeley Fire Caused By Electrical Short

1. The father of 1-year-old Hiram Lawrence, who was gravely injured when he was shot in the head Monday in West Oakland, is refusing to help police find the perpetrators, the Bay Citizen reports, citing anonymous sources. The lack of cooperation with police is commonplace in Oakland and is one of the reasons why most violent crimes go unsolved each year in the city. In this instance, investigators suspect that the shooting, which left seven people injured, including little Hiram and his father, may have stemmed from an ongoing feud between rival West Oakland gangs. They also suspect that little Hiram’s father knows the identities of the shooters.

2. The massive fire that destroyed a Telegraph Avenue apartment building and ruined two popular restaurants was caused by an electrical short in the building’s elevator machinery, the Chron reports. Residents of the apartment building have said that it has been plagued by electrical problems over the years. The blaze displaced about seventy residents and destroyed Café Intermezzo and Raleigh’s Bar and Grill.

3. A federal judge seemed reluctant yesterday to impose an injunction against the Oakland police department for alleged violations of its own crowd-control policies during two clashes with Occupy Oakland demonstrators, Bay City News reports. Judge Richard Seeborg said in court that injunctions typically require more than two instances of police misconduct. But an attorney for the ACLU and the National Lawyers’ Guild, which are seeking the injunction, argued that police over-the-top responses to Occupy protests are dissuading others from attending demonstrations and exercising their free speech rights.

4. The CSU board of directors has put off a planned vote that would raise the salaries of campus presidents out of fears of massive protests, the Chron reports. The vote was scheduled for this Monday, but has now been delayed. UC Regents came under fire for voting to raise the salaries of top administrators earlier this week despite protests from Occupy demonstrators who are upset about repeated tuition hikes.

5. UC Davis Police Lieutenant John Pike, who gained notoriety for pepper spraying peaceful Occupy protesters, is a member of the 99 Percent and has been mired in personal financial problems, the Bay Citizen reports. Pike recently went bankrupt even though he makes more than $110,000 annually.

8. And California children are woefully out-of-shape as well. The Chron reports that one-third of school-age kids have so much body fat that they’re considered to be at risk for health problems. In addition, only one-third of students are healthy enough to complete the state’s physical fitness test.